1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to manufacturing processes wherein manufactured parts are conveyed from production machinery to a packaging or shipping area over a plurality of conveyors, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus wherein manufactured parts are automatically stacked as they are conveyed from the production machinery which produces the parts.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In manufacturing processes, it is frequently necessary to convey manufactured parts from production machinery. For example, in a manufacturing process employing a punch press which stamps out parts of a desired size and shape from sheets of raw material, or blanks, the parts must be conveyed from the punch press, such operation normally being effected by way of a conveyor. In known systems, to facilitate transportation to a storage or shipping area manufacturing personnel manually remove the parts from the conveyor and stack the parts in piles on a pallet, or in boxes. Generally, an additional worker is required to monitor the punch press machinery. Also, since the parts are continuously produced at a fairly fast rate, a long conveyor is needed to provide the worker with adequate time to stack the parts without having to stop the punch press operation.
It would be desirable to provide for automatic stacking of parts as they are conveyed from a production machinery to minimize the number of manual production steps required in a manufacturing process and to increase the efficiency of the process.